Leaving Nuoding City

Time flew, and another year and a half passed.

"What? You're leaving? Why the rush? Could it be..."

Lei Nuo stared in surprise at Lin Qingchen.

"Yeah. I broke through to level 30, so I want to go hunt for my Third Soul Ring. But once I leave, I don't think I'll be coming back to Nuoding Academy."

Lin Qingchen explained.

"Ah... I see. As expected of the genius I had my eye on. You really do cultivate fast."

Lei Nuo thought for a moment, then took a sheet of writing paper from his drawer.

"Dean, what's that for?"

"Ha, you can't stay out in the wilderness living like a savage forever, can you? I was thinking of writing you a letter of recommendation. As it happens, I have an acquaintance in Heaven Dou City. You can go there and ask him to find you an advanced Soul Master Academy."

As a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, it was only natural that Lei Nuo knew someone in Heaven Dou City. But...

"What do you mean, living like a savage? Dean, watch what you say."

"Ahem, ahem, ahem. It's because you were always saying strange things around me before." Lei Nuo coughed dryly a couple of times. "So, do you need my help with Soul Hunting this time?"

"No need. I hunted my Second Soul Ring myself, so the Third Soul Ring naturally won't be a problem either."

Lei Nuo froze for a moment, then immediately remembered the boy's thousand-year Second Soul Ring and understood.

All right, he had been able to hunt a Thousand-Year Soul Beast with only one ring, so the third surely wouldn't be a problem either.

Unless he intended to hunt a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. But was that possible?

Of course not. Lin Qingchen had assessed his physique and figured that fusing with a six- or seven-thousand-year Soul Ring would be his absolute limit.

Whale Rubber did have some effect, but that was about all. After he ate enough of it, he reached saturation.

Even so, he had Xiao Shan and his son continue buying Whale Rubber for him.

But back to the point: why were Soul Master Academies important?

It was because of their resources, whether cultivation resources or teaching resources.

But the most important thing was actually connections.

People said that, in modern times, the highest-ranking person one could usually come into contact with was one's university teacher. That was more or less true on the Douluo Continent as well.

And the most direct manifestation of those connections was naturally the hunting of Soul Rings.

First, one thing had to be made clear: if an ordinary Soul Master pursued the optimal Soul Ring configuration, it was usually very difficult to obtain the rings through his own strength in the early stages.

The First Soul Ring required a four-hundred-year Soul Beast, but a level-ten Soul Scholar would have to struggle to defeat even a Ten-Year Soul Beast, and might even be in danger, let alone face a Hundred-Year Soul Beast.

That was the benefit of having a master: one could rely on an elder's strength to help with Soul Hunting.

Yu Xiaogang was an exception, of course. In the original story, if Tang San hadn't had Hidden Weapons to deal with the Mandala Snake, and had merely been an ordinary person, both of them would have died in its jaws.

So being a good teacher depended not only on how much knowledge one could teach, but also on whether one was capable of protecting one's student on the path.

Thus, Lin Qingchen didn't turn down Lei Nuo's recommendation. Even if he didn't want to go to school when the time came, he could always decline.

Lei Nuo wrote furiously and soon finished a letter. He put it in an envelope, sealed it with wax, and handed it to Lin Qingchen.

Lin Qingchen put it away.

"Then I'm off."

"Mm, go on. Stay safe out there, and know your limits in everything you do," Lei Nuo reminded him.

"I know."

After leaving Nuoding Academy, Lin Qingchen rented a luxurious carriage with practiced ease and had it take him to Holy Soul Village.

He first went to visit Old Jack.

He wasn't hard to find. It wasn't the busy farming season, and he was sitting at the village entrance, shooting the breeze with the others.

When they spotted the carriage approaching from afar, the group had already fallen silent.

The carriage curtain lifted, revealing Lin Qingchen's face inside.

"Little Chen? Why are you back? Shouldn't you still be at school?"

Lin Qingchen didn't explain. He simply took him back to his house.

"Grandpa Jack, I've graduated. I'm getting ready to go to Heaven Dou City."

"Graduated?" Old Jack was taken aback, then caught on. "Heaven Dou City? Heaven Dou City is good! Little Chen, you're really going places."

All he knew was that Heaven Dou City was the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire. He had never seen what it was like there, but instinctively felt that, since it was the capital, it had to be the most prosperous place under heaven. And since Lin Qingchen was going there, he must have been doing exceptionally well.

Lin Qingchen smiled, but didn't explain. He simply took out a bag and handed it to Old Jack.

Old Jack was still wondering what it was, but as soon as he took the heavy bag, he heard the clink of metal from inside.

"This is..."

He hurriedly opened it. Inside was a great pile of glittering Gold Soul Coins that nearly dazzled his eyes.

Then he immediately tried to press the bag back into Lin Qingchen's arms. "I can't accept this, I can't! You finally make it back for a visit, and now you're giving me so much money?"

Lin Qingchen firmly pushed the money back. "All right, Grandpa Jack. These five hundred Gold Soul Coins are just pocket change to me. I'm a Soul Master, so I don't lack money. I've troubled you to look after me for so many years, and all I can give you is this little bit of money."

"Ah, this, I... you..."

Old Jack's expression changed repeatedly, and he didn't know what to say.

"All right, go ahead and spend it without worrying. It really isn't much to me."

As he spoke, Lin Qingchen took out an even bigger bag of money right in front of him.

Only then did Old Jack breathe a sigh of relief and carefully put the money away.

"I'll be going, then. Goodbye."

"All right, Little Chen. Take care."

Lin Qingchen smiled and left.

In truth, money was just a number to him now. Let alone five hundred, he could produce even a hundred thousand or a million.

But Old Jack was just an ordinary villager. As the saying went, an innocent man became guilty by possessing a jade treasure. Having too much money would not only fail to help him, but would leave him fearful all day long and might even bring him trouble.

Besides, five hundred Gold Soul Coins was an astronomical sum to an ordinary person, enough for Old Jack to spend lavishly for the rest of his life.

After leaving Old Jack's house, Lin Qingchen went without stopping to the hill behind the village.

His parents were buried there.

Lin Qingchen looked at the gravestone before him, and his heart grew heavy, a rare occurrence.

His soul hadn't transmigrated into someone else's body. Rather, it was more like he had drunk expired Meng Po soup when he was reincarnated. In any case, he certainly had feelings for his birth parents. After all, he had lived with them for several years, even if he had only been an infant.

But whatever the case, the dead were gone, and he couldn't bring his parents back to life. All he could do now was pay his respects.

With that thought, he took out the offerings he had prepared in advance, along with a bottle of fine wine he had asked Xiao Shan to buy.

He poured two cups of wine and sprinkled them before his parents' grave.

"Perhaps you're no longer here, but if you're still watching me from somewhere, then wish me a journey forever free of worry."

Then Lin Qingchen hesitated no longer. He poured out all the remaining wine, turned, and left.